The Supreme Court on Monday has put forth a difficult question to answer, asking how raising the slogan “Jai Shri Ram” could constitute a criminal offence.
A bench comprising Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta made this observation while hearing a petition challenging the Karnataka High Court’s decision to quash proceedings against two individuals accused of shouting “Jai Shri Ram” inside a mosque.
“They were shouting a religious phrase or name. How does that amount to an offence?” the bench asked while addressing the plea filed by complainant Haydhar Ali C M.
The Supreme Court also sought clarification on how the individuals allegedly entering the mosque and shouting the slogan were identified.
“How do you identify these respondents? You claim they were captured on CCTV,” the bench asked senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing the petitioner.
“Who identified these individuals?” it further questioned. In response, Kamat argued that the high court quashed the case even though the investigation was incomplete. The bench, however, pointed out that the high court found the allegations did not fulfil the criteria for offences under Sections 503 (criminal intimidation) and 447 (criminal trespass) of the IPC.
The petition challenged the Karnataka High Court’s September 13 ruling, which had dismissed the criminal proceedings against the accused.
On Tuesday, October 15, Karnataka High Court quashed a case against two men accused of an offence under IPC Section 295A for allegedly shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ in a mosque.
The Karnataka High Court said it was not understandable how the slogan would outrage the religious feelings of any class. The Court said this after noting that the complainant in the case had himself said that Hindus and Muslims were living in harmony in the concerned area.
The Court further said that as no ingredients of the offences alleged were made out, permitting further proceedings against the petitioners would become an abuse of process of law.
